Shieldbreaker's Story
core novel 1994 Empire of the East / Swords
Record
| First published | 1994 |
|---|---|
| Original language |  EN |
| Work type | novel |
| Canon status | core |
| Reader rating | 3.88 (1,423 ratings, collected 2026-11-02) |
| First-edition ISBN | 9780312850012 |
| Internal chronology | 8 |
Synopsis
Prince Mark of Tasavalta holds several of the twelve god-forged Swords, including the powerful Shieldbreaker. After Mark banished the sorcerer Vilkata beyond the world, Vilkata returns with the Mindsword, which can compel obedience from anyone near it. Mark is away fighting a dragon, so his fourteen-year-old son Stephen is the only defender standing between Vilkata and the vault where the Swords are kept. Vilkata's magical journey back to the world takes him by a strange route that ends on the Moon.
Where it sits
- Universe: Empire of the East / Swords
- Series: Lost Swords core; position 8 of 8 in the series' recorded order
- Author: Fred Saberhagen
Notes
- Published as The Last Book of Swords; the final novel of the Swords books.
- From the series record (Lost Swords): Eight novels that follow the Swords of Power after the first trilogy, centered on Prince Mark of Tasavalta and his family.
Neighbouring works
Publication order and internal chronology are tracked as two separate orderings and are never conflated: a book's place in one says nothing about its place in the other.
- Publication order, within the series Lost Swords: position 8 of 8: previous Wayfinder's Story (1992)
- Internal chronology, within Empire of the East / Swords: position 15 of 15: previous Wayfinder's Story (1992)
Sources
- Wikipedia: Books of Swords
- Fred Saberhagen's official site
- AbeBooks listing (Tor hardcover, 1994)
- Fred Saberhagen's site: Shieldbreaker's Story
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